Where is your identity?
If you've built your purpose on your brains, looks, popularity or anything else but God... then you're in danger.
Education takes up a huge part of the lives of teens and young adults, and we often place significant value on things like:
- how well we are succeeding at school
- if we get into the course or job of our dreams
- if we’re meeting our goals for a successful and comfortable life.
Don't be defined by uncertain things
When someone asks you what you do, you probably respond by saying either you’re a student, or you work at such and such a place. For many people, their identity is shaped by what they study or what they’re paid to do, alongside their relationships and activities they’re passionate about (like sport or art).
And so, it can be devastating when life fails to work out – if you fail an important exam, injure yourself badly, lose your job, or break-up with your boyfriend or girlfriend. These events stop you from doing what you love, or being with people you love. How would you react if one of these things happened to you?
As painful as these things are, what matters most is that God loved us so much he sent his Son to take our sins upon himself and die for us. We can’t place our identity in people or what we do because these change all the time, and are affected by things way beyond our control. No matter how hard we work, we fail, mess-up, and are not perfect. But God is perfect, and because of what Jesus has done, we can know that God loves us, is in control, and is looking after us.
Finding your identity in God
God is loving, unchanging and perfect, as the following verses show:
- "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” (James 1:17)
- “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:7-8)
- “This God—his way is perfect; the word of the LORD proves true; he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.” (2 Samuel 22:31)
We can place our identity in God, with complete trust that this is the right decision, because he loves us, he is perfect and good, and he will never change in these characteristics.
While so many things in our life change, God will always be who the Bible says he is. Rather than placing our identity in our successes, what we do, our friends and family, our boyfriend or girlfriend, or many other temporary things, let’s place our identity in the God who loved us so much he sent his only son to take our sins upon him and die for us.
Placing God first, having him shape who you are, frees you to deal with the big losses in life because God is more important than passing, money or a romantic relationship.
By placing your identity in God you are building your house on the rock (Matthew 7:24-27) which cannot be destroyed by life’s storms. So no matter what happens, remember that in whatever you go and do, your identity is in God.
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